BTW I will also be adding a clove of garlic to each jar and hot pepper flakes.

Substitution of any of them for fresh heads of dill is not recommended as the end result is very different and of inferior quality. There really is no comparison between the resulting flavors. The seeds and the dill weed are much stronger than fresh heads and green heads have little flavor at all.

So when possible it is preferable to wait until you can obtain fresh dill in the grocery store if you don't grow your own.

Is it possible to sub? Sure if you must. But the conversion rate varies wildly so will the end result. Most Dilled Bean recipes are for pints, not half-pints. Some list a substitution "when necessary" of anywhere from 1/2 tsp to 1 tsp dill seed per pint for the recommended 1-2 heads of fresh dill per pint. So if your recipe calls for 1 head per 1/2 pint I sure wouldn't use more than 1/2 tsp seed, maybe less or they could end up so strong you couldn't eat them.

Dave

The final result in taste will vary depending on what you swap out, and most recipes I know of call for pints instead of half pints but I do make a couple to a few cases of dilly beans a year and sometimes I have to substitute out too... And we love our dilly beans very dilly.. So,

You can totally use the fresh green dill seed head instead of a fully ripe seed head- I've done it before and it works fine. The heads actually hold together nicer when they are still a bit green than when they are fully ripe and they look prettier in the jar once the pickling is done- but the taste is different, depending on the ripeness. It can be more green and less dilly, or just not good at all for the dill factor. How many heads to use is up to you- eat a bit of one to see just how concentrated the dill taste is- you might want to use two heads instead of one, or half a head instead of a whole head.. or just one whole head. Try to use the closest to fully ripe heads of your green heads as you can.

Sorry if that sounds like a lot of conflicting info, but green heads are for sure different than ripe heads, even if they can work well.

However, if you don't want to use fresh green heads- you can use between 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of dill seed per pint, depending on how dilly you like your beans.

I've sometimes found myself with green seed heads and dried seed, in which case I use a combo of a head of green, and 1/4-1/2 teaspoon of seed per pint to make the right flavor.

As a last resort I use dried dill weed, because it just does not seem to stand up well to pickling the way that seeds or seed heads do. At that point I might make some fridge pickles at best. Or just pack up the beans into the fridge till I can get the right dill going on to pickle them right.

Fresh dill fronds however are lovely when packed in around the outsides of the jars- they hold up well and make a great presentation just like seed heads do. But I find more dill fronds are needed than seed heads for the level of dilliness, and more fronds can cloud up the final jars... the fronds are more of a pretty presentation than flavor action, so I end up using some dill seed if I'm also using dill fronds.

We did grow dill but it is all going to seed (heads). Dave I am using the recipe that calls for pints but I prefer to do them in 1/2 pints so they get eaten in one sitting instead of getting lost in the refrigerator. Thanks for the input. I'm going to go with 1/4 teas dill seed per 1/2 pint to use them up. I bought them last year and don't want to waste them.